I am somewhat limited with CAT. DDUTIL adds in additional CAT commands (DD6) that will do most of what else I want. However I cant seem to get the DDUTIL commands to work. So if anyone has experience using DDUTIL commands. Please help me out!

No it was an issue in my code that changes in the Flex code revealed. The Flex sends a bit more information than the previous version. This extra data was messing up my parse routine. But it was a flaw in my code.

The app size unfortunately set in stone. Placement of objects is pixel for pixel x by y. Making this scaleable would be more complicated than the entire program itself. Once its loaded it is really useless anyway.

Also please download newest version. V1_3 has the small prompts. This is done away with on newer versions. One less small thing you need to read.

The balance is working as designed. I did it this way so when running 2 slices I can switch which ear which slice is in.

The volume A/B sliders not updating is a bug in smartSDR which has been acknowledged by Flex.

Steps are designed with only 10 & 100. I can add more if people want. I just found that these were all I needed. 100 to go fast to the area and 10 to fine tune. I found having to cycle through more than 2 step sizes slowed me down exponentially. But a single button push from fast to slow was the most useful.

I'm open for suggestions for changes, and will change things if most users agree. So make your suggestions and lets get feedback from others.

Regarding step sizes, what you have works fine on my Hercules and I leave this to your good judgement. My CMD Micro arrives tomorrow and I'm excited to fire it up.

I will point out a couple of my observations. I find that most HF SSB QSOs occur at 500Hz. steps with only a few landing in between. As a result, I've set the step size in SmartSDR on SSB at 500 Hz. and I use my mouse wheel to move across the band and/or point click to a trace in the waterfall. When I want to fine tune, I use the Hercules with your software set for 10Hz. On CW, click tune & 10Hz. seems to work well for me.

SmartSDR 1.4 remembers steps size on a per mode basis which are user selectable. One way to satisfy many users would be to have the CMD step button cycle between the current SmartSDR step size selection and the fine tuning selection you think best.

I've suggested to Flex that they designate one of the extra "thumb" buttons on a five button mouse to select a second, selectable step size for fine tuning . The suggestion is under consideration and I'm hopeful they will agree to this.

Have you considered a button to step through the bands or, for more versatility, the new SmartSDR memory settings?

I experimented with step sizes a lot. On the mouse 500hz is fine, as the mouse has indents. Jut on a jog wheel 500hz was way too touchy.

In the hercules I implemented a slowdown routine that reduced the sensitivity of the jog wheel. With this sensitivity turned down, tuning 500hz steps was not an issue.

I used the CMD micro during the last SSb contest, and I found that I only used 10hz, as most QSO's were at odd increments. And if I wanted to move fast to the other side of the band 100hz was sufficient.

I'm open to ideas and would like others opinions. Its no work for me to add as many as people want. Just don't want to make it more complicated when it doesn't need to be.

In my operating style I only want two speeds. Slow and fast. If I have to cycle through step rates constantly it slows down my QSO rate. If I need to go faster I just grab the mouse.

Others what is your opinion? I'm happy to update as the community wants.

Given the differences you remind me of between a mouse wheel and the tuning knob on the MIDI controller, I understand where you are coming from. Thanks!

I wasn't suggesting that the step button cycle through all of the SmartSDR settings but rather toggle between the "current" setting and a fine tuning setting. This way the user can set the SmartSDR setting on a per mode basis to his/her liking.

I use 500Hz. on a TMate2 coupled to SmartSDR via N4PY's Pegasus software. The TMate2 has a smooth knob much like the MIDIs. Pushing the TMate2's tuning knob down toggles between 500Hz. & 10Hz. on SSB & 100Hz, 10Hz. on CW. I find these setting work pretty well.

Just as an idea thought for everyone, I've found the MIDI controllers knobs to be a bit too shallow & uncomfortable compared to the feel of most radio tuning knobs. On the Hercules I've glued a Daka-Ware 2" knob to the face of the Hercules platter which really makes a difference in the feel and it looks pretty good to. When I make the mod to the CMD, I'll try to post a picture.

A minor update to v1.8. In v1.9 you can now save your defaults for the new Toggles added in v1.8. A save button was added in the lower right corner. After you save, next time you start CMDMicroFlex6k the toggles will remain in the state you choose.

I had another idea today at lunch. The jog wheels on the CMD Micro are touch sensitive. The center section of the wheel is metal and the outside is plastic.

In the DJ world this would be used for Jog and nudge. Spinning the wheel using your finger placed on the center metal section is JOG, and spinning the wheel touching the outside plastic section is Nudge.

One thing I have noticed is fine tuning without indents is very touchy.

So I decided to use the DJ logic in the CMD Micro. If you spin the wheel from the outside (aka nudge) it slows the sensitivity down 5 times, allowing easier fine adjustment. Spin the wheel with your finger from the center metal portion and its normal speed.

This is actually very intuitive and does not require any thought or practice.

I'm uploading a video and will past link shortly. Let me know if you like this idea!

I have not uploaded the code yet for this feature. Wanting comments if people think its useful first. Currently spinning is spinning, no difference inside or out. But I think adding this nudge feature is pretty slick.

I think i will return my Numark ORBIT and get one of those controllers.I like what you are doing, and the Numark ORBIT is stiff, and the driver software is a bit kludgy. I am not pleased at all. it is very difficult to get the drivers working right, etc.

BTW. I have not looked at what you are doing for the options toggles. But it seems like you may not be far from a complete "Right-click and choose your option" interface for each button and control. If you could manage this, everyone could customize everything the way they want and save it. It would simplify the "can you make this button do this instead of that?"

I am planning on doing that with my Herc if I can figure out the logic for a drop list...But that will all need to wait until next week.

I have that already in the works. A generic midi mapping software. I already have mastered the load, save, dropdown, etc necessary to do this.

My idea is as follows.

A generic app screen with a bunch of features listed such as tuneA, agctA, volA, etc. Each will have a dropdown allowing you to choose a controller pitch/note. I will have a dropdown allowing you to select the midi device also.

The app will have a built in midi tester so you can easily find out what control is what pitch/note etc.

William, nudge is great! (nudge-nudge you know, Monty Python like...)An on top a new SmartSDR version, and a new ham radio deluxe version!It's like birthday, xmas and easter together ;-)Thanks, happy Easter! and 73,Alex DH2ID

All found a bug in 1.9c, a null pointer exception can be triggered under the right conditions. Also I was reading in all available data from the radio and parsing it. However I should have been parsing each line separately. This may have also been the issue seen with the garbage on the screen in v1.9b. So please give this new version a try, and report any bugs found.

On a side note. I'm not sure if something changed in radio firmware, but I can now manipulate pan-adapter bandwidth via external program. Who would like panadapter zoom +/- option that can be swapped with the NR/NB buttons.

That would be very interesting, William. I don't use panadapter zoomoften, but somertimes it would be nice to look at the bigger picture,or waterfall in this case ;-)I just downloaded 1.9d and will report if there are problems.73, Alex DH2ID

William, I wonder about using a slider to do the zoom? You could program a couple of reasonable limits of pan width and correlate them to the control value. Or is the access you have one that is a simple +/- like the buttons on the SSDR interface?

BTW: I have thought about using a timing loop to create a short/long press control button on my Hercules, but haven't had time to get to it. Almost anything is possible, if you want to spend the time to program it!

I considered this, but you need to start from current bandwidth. Using a slider would cause the screen to jump. It's best to query the radio for current bandwidth and just add or subtract to that value.

My current test code I just uploaded works real good, and I think y'all will like it.

What would be best to use is a encoder dial. But there is only one available on the micro. And I think swapping out the mode button is not a good idea. Most people will set NB/NR and leave it. But they may change mode and bandwidth often.

If I had one more button I would do a shift function. Maybe in a future release I will remove CWX3 and make it a shift button. With shift pressed CWX 1-2 becomes 3-4, and NB/NB becomes bandwidth. This is a bigger change and may add it at some point.

william I installed only version 1.9E, the program runs, but does not find the flex6500. With older version of your program, not numbered, by entering the IP Flex 6500 CMDMicro runs good. A suggestion?
win 8.1
Tnx Fabrizio IK6DLK

It seems I'm having a similar problem with my 6500. I've downloaded V1.9e and get no ip connection to the radio.
The CMD window appears on my desktop and there's some interaction between the desktop and the controller but not with the radio.

This is the 1st attempt to get this working with my 6500. I did have an LE with my old F5K but that was a different setup.

Also it appears after I installed the software and the controller found its driver my desktop icons got scrambled and enlarged during a reboot. ???

You are the first to report this issue with discovery. I'm not sure what it could be without being there. However I made you a custom version of the newest version that uses manual IP. This should allow you to use the latest features. Please try the original software on different workstations and check the obvious things such firewall settings etc.

The discovery issue could be slow network response. The APP listens for 3 seconds before deciding giving up. With my nework and radio I receive 4 UDP messages within that time. Maybe this is just not long enough for slower networks. I will post a new version tomorrow with a longer timeout. Until then please use the manual version I just posted. I am away from my main workstation with all my data.

I loaded the "Manual" version last night and took a small step forward.

After entering the IP i can now see the frequency readout on the CMD screen for VFO A and if I add a B VFO/Slice that appears also. If I change freq using my Flex Kno or Mouse the Freq on the CMD screen follows along.

However, I get no response from the CMD device controls. NaDa!

I did uninstall the previous version of 1.9e automated IP version bdefore installing the Manual version.

You hit the naill on the head William. The CMD Micro driver did not load due to my Malwarebytes blocking it. Don't know why I didn't get a warning, i ususally do, but not this time. In any case, I loaded the 1.9f version and ALL seems to be working now.

I havn't had time to review what's been done in the past few days, I noticed the VOL A slider works but does not move the slider on the FRS screen.

Also, Is there a way to turn OFF or Power Down the CMD Micro? At least without having to pull the plug!

Man, I have done myself a major disservice by not reading this thread before! You have made some pretty incredible progress with these external controllers! I haven't read through the whole thread yet, but had to comment and give you some kudos.

So...have you thought about using this controller? Same company, so may not be hard to interface with? Might be good for folks who only use one vfo primarily? Not even sure if it'd be compatible with what you are doing.

Yes I could adapt to that one very easy (well easy, not short). I almost bought this one to be honest. And I may still, You could still use 2 VFO's (even 4) as this one has a deck switch that could be used to switch VFO's.

Its a tad more expensive, but I'm sure the Jog wheel is nicer, as its a 4" vs the 2" of the micro.

Haha Willam, well, sorry about that...didn't mean to prod you into buying one, although you didn't need much prodding! :D All the knobs I think will make adjustments really easy especially for IF-shift and filter bandwidth settings, both really nice to have quick at hand during a contest.

About toys: when I bought my boat, Skua, a 37ft 16 ton steel ketch, I alwaysquoted my favorite quip "the difference between men and boys is the price oftheir toys". The second one was: "sailing is tearing up 100 dollar bills under a coldshower" Now that I am a full time ham operator, almost all toys are allowed, as"ham radio is not expensive at all" har har

Michael, if you have looked at the source code, it is simply a matter of changing numbers to determine which button or control activates which function. Once William sorted out how to read and write to the rig, and found the midi tools for the Processing language in order to read the controls on the MIDI devices, it is all "plug & chug" as we used to say in my math & physics classes. Any MIDI device can be used, one you k ow how it is mapped! Awesome!

William, the deck button looks like it cycles through four different decks. I would assume that that means the main dial could be programmed for A, B, RIT and XIT.

It might even allow you to map custom key assignment codes for each deck, which would simplify the software.

Apparently, there is what looks to be like a VU meter to the left of the main sider, and all of those knobs at the top are also pushbuttons, pretty cool. The video does give a good impression on the size of the unit, it does seem a bit big, but I'm ok with that as you need room around all the knobs, looks like they will be easy to use.

Hahaha! No I don't but and employee discount would be nice as that PL-1 is £72.54 here in the UK. Looks like I'm going to have to do a bit of shopping to find a good deal. I see a few on eBay so I'll try my luck.

Have you considered GitHub, Google Code, or Source Forge since you are sharing coding they might help on revision code control. Keeping the discussion here is good since it is focused to the Flex community.

Layout looks pretty good, but not sure how much use PAN-/PAN+ would get in my shack, assuming it's for adding/removing panadapters? I would ask for one dual-function dial, for the filter. Normal position is for RX filter, pushed in adjusts TX filter. Or, you could use one knob each for RX and TX, normal position adjusts low, pushed in adjusts high. Reason is that from time to time here I run into some folks that are at 4K wide or so, and if the band is clear, I widen out and chat back with them. Current UI with SSDR, makes this a bit slow, but knobulating (technical term!) it would make it work pretty slick. I would love to see the ANF in there somewhere, always handy to be able to hit that button in a hurry when someone decides to tune up on frequency with 4Kw. Being able to switch speech compression levels would be nice too. I'm not a CW op, so I know where I'd want those, haha.

Michael, are the 8 knobs pits or rotary encoders? it might make a difference as I customize my programming.

BTW, I plan to use a separate balance for A & B because I often like to have the DX in both speakers and the "mob" in the right ear. But when I want to monitor two different frequencies for other purposes, I like to pan each slice to a different speaker, or sometimes an 80/20 split.Another great thing about this MIDI interface...it is so easy to reconfigure!

William, that is a good looking setup so far. Are you using an on/off toggle for RIT with a long-press for clear? that is why I am going to try to implement, with a count-up loop that if exceeded makes RIT/XIT clear.

If those are 8 little rotary encoders, then it would be simple to make RIT/XIT/AGC-T, slice volume, etc. switch between A/B with a simple press. Filter hi/lo would also be dual function on the same knob.

You could use the "VFO Select" to select A/B/RTIT/XIT tuning, though that might become oppressive to cycle through four options each time you need it.

Do you know if that knob is "dual speed" like the other one you have?This could become more potential versatility than even my Herc. And it looks to be about half the size!

Once I get through this weekend, I plan to get back to programming. But now I need to make two versions at the same time. I am planning to perfect a version for the DJControl LE and link that to the PowerSDR-UI board, because there are a number of people hanging around that board who are making the shift from PowerSDR to SmartSDR.

Wonderful! That just increased their value! 8 rotary encoders!You can encode them in the same way that you do the mode shift button, but with a high end and low end stop. Other commands you can do like the rotary encoders for RIT/XIT.

I am going to enjoy this one when it arrives! It may even become my main MIDI control.

By "press tuned" do you mean like a function toggle button, or press-and-hold-down while tuning? I like the first, but do not like the last. I always seem to let go too soon with a press-and-hold tuning button.

I was thinking that the pushbutton function of the 8 knobs would work as an individual shift button for that particular knob. The shift button is still a good idea, but if each knob can be shifted individually by just pressing the knob you already have a hold of, that would be much better than releasing the knob, hitting shift, finding the knob again. I'm just thinking workflow during contesting, and not having to hunt the shift button for the knobs would certainly speed things up. To be clear, i'm envisioning pressing the knob as a momentary action, not one to be held while making the adjustment.

Also for the RIT/XIT on/off and shifted clear function, maybe holding the button for 1 second would clear rather than hitting shift? Contest types may want a 500msec instead, but then I suppose you could expose that variable as a user configured value.

From an old sound engineer standpoint, it makes sense to me to put the master volume on the big fader, and move VFO volume to go live with HP volume. Probably just personal preference though.

Not sure what "bandwidth" refers to under "mic level" is that the panadapter zoom? If so, that's a GREAT idea.

For the CMD PL1 I will need much more data from the radio. Currently the CMD micro only queries Freq, slice, mode. So I started a new parse routine to use with the PL1. Currently the parsing is working good for Freq,slice,mode,pan,agc,slice vol,balance,tx low,tx high, rx low, rx high, bandwidth for slice A and B. I still need to add in Main volume and a few others.

So that was the biggest hurdle. If anyone cares to look at how I did this;

I'm thinking that are any modes needed at all on the CMD? My use case is putting frequently accessed settings within easy reach. I don't change modes very often in a session, so taking up a spot on the CMD is of limited value ﻿to me.﻿ However, I think the USB, LSB, AM and CW would cover it, but I would substitute SAM for AM.

I have the CMD PL-1 partially working. Wow this guy has my head spinning. Its taken me a good amount of time to figure this guy out. The Deck button switches channels, and this is actually sorta a pain.

So far I have the VFO working with steps 1/10/50hz and the x10 button . Also I have waterfall bandwidth, main vol, headphone vol, vfo vol working.

This controller is surely more of a challenge, but I will get all the functions working with time. I just wish I could control the deck selection via software, so it would just cycle 1-2 only.

I have a video uploading that shows the above functions working that I will post in a bit.